Putting Their Neighborhood On The Map

MIDDLETOWN – Motorists traveling on Route 35 were recently surprised to see a new sign pop up at Cresent Parkway, in the River Plaza section. It reads “Welcome to Minnisink.”
Minnisink is a reference to the Algonquin-speaking Native American tribe that once lived in this area. The sign was designed, erected and paid for by homeowners who live in a deep neighborhood off Crescent Parkway, on streets called Iroquois Avenue, Delaware Avenue, Mohawk Avenue and Minnisink Boulevard.
The sign, which received the blessing of the township’s governing body, is part of the first phase of a homegrown plan by citizens to spruce up a forlorn entrance to their own residential neighborhood.
“Sometimes it just takes one person to step forward, and when you do, other people will follow,” said resident Al Mollo, who is credited with starting the grassroots campaign. The community effort included a neighborhood-wide vote, a volunteer day and a fundraising drive.
“The response was great; we have really good neighbors and literally everyone chipped in,” said Molo.
Cleaning up the entrance of Crescent Parkway has been a continuous discussion in the neighborhood for some time.
Mollo got the ball rolling last spring with an appeal to neighbors. “I just sat down at my computer one day for two hours and typed up a letter. We printed them out and then my two kids walked around the neighborhood with the other neighbor’s kid, and they handed out 100 flyers.”
On the flyers was information about how neighbors could donate $10, along with their time and effort, to help clean up the median island that separates both sides of Crescent Parkway, where the sign is located.
In May, some of the neighbors spent a Sunday afternoon working together on the clean-up. Some discussed how nice it would be to have something to identify their neighborhood. During the clean-up, the residents noticed the sign in front of a former spa, which had been shuttered since a fire in 2013, was no longer being used. The owner of the spa – who also lives down the block – willingly offered it up.
Tricia Simon, a local artist who also lives a few streets over, volunteered to refurbish it.
“I like to reuse and recycle, and I figured if we can repurpose it, why throw it out?” Simon said. “We could save a lot of money being that it was just people donating funds.”
Simon, the go-to artist on the block, had painted murals inside River Plaza School three years ago, and runs a side business where she creates signs for clients.
After taking the sign back to her house and spending a few days working on it, she showed the final product to fellow residents. It reemerged with the new name and a fresh coat of paint, giving the sign the look of distressed wood.
Help from other residents came in the form of hard labor. Billy and April O’Brien, who live on Woodside Drive, provided that extra bit of assistance.
“My husband, he’s an excavator for a living, so this comes naturally to him,” April O’Brien said. “He’s a hard worker and he loves helping out, and it was a great team effort from everybody in the neighborhood in one place.”
The O’Briens, originally from Brooklyn, have been Middletown residents for the past dozen years. One of the reasons they made the move down to the Jersey Shore was because of the history in the area.
In the vote for naming the community – which had other options such as Crescent Pointe, Crescent Fields and Minnisink Meadows – April said her family voted for naming the block Minnisink.
“I love that they chose the historic name, as someone from New York, I know there’s too many people from New York here,” she said. “For the Middletown people, it’s upsetting at times, but it’s nice to keep the historical name and not change anything because that’s what it should be.”
Through every stage of the neighborhood facelift, a larger sense of community appreciation emerged.
Deputy Mayor Tony Fiore, who was Mollo’s main government contact throughout this endeavor, helped move the project along.
Fiore arranged to have Department of Public Works pick up brush cleared by residents from the traffic island, and had them deliver two truckloads of mulch to spread after the cleanup.
“I was so happy to help them out, help them get through some of the process,” Fiore said by phone. “It just speaks volumes to that neighborhood, and I’m so appreciative that that community put themselves through that process.”
Despite the hard work, Mollo says community members are going out of their way to keep the space clean. Neighbors have also taken the initiative to decorate the sign for the seasons. As Thanksgiving is right around the corner, the always-traditional bale of hay and corn stalks give the newfound space a seasonal feel.
Simon, the local artist, believes anything to keep the sign and its surrounding area seasonal is well worth it.
“It’s really nice to see that too, because it does just bring everybody together for something positive,” she said. “It feel’s good to drive down and see that.”